I honestly don't see anything that you did that would be remotely offensive. If you don't care for rosemary, you don't. And I agree with a PP - rosemary can grow like crazy and you have to trim it so it's not like she was giving you pieces of fruit or something...

Logged

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

We often say on these boards, being polite does not equal being a doormat. You were perfectly polite in your exchange. The only person you have been rude to is yourself, by assuming you should cast yourself into ehell.

Would it have been rude to refuse to accept free garbage? She was essentially offering you her yard trash.

Rosemary is yard trash?

It can be. Anything can be trash if its not wanted.

A friend of mine was lamenting all the weeds in her yard. I walked around a bit and pointed out all her "weeds" were mint, dill, chives and basil. She doesn't cook but wanted a nice lawn, to her they were weeds. Rosemary can grow pretty big and there's only so much you can do with it, so at a certain point, it becomes yard trash.

Is there any possibility that she was hoping to convince you to ride home to get your wheelbarrow and dispose of gratefully relieve her of her "extra" rosemary? Less hauling to the curb for her and fewer yard waste bags to fill up and pay to have picked up.

In her mind it would have been a win-win. She could get rid of her yard stuff and (in her mind) you would get bushels and bushels of FREE rosemary! Surely an offer you couldn't refuse!

Would it have been rude to refuse to accept free garbage? She was essentially offering you her yard trash.

Rosemary is yard trash?

It can be. Anything can be trash if its not wanted.

A friend of mine was lamenting all the weeds in her yard. I walked around a bit and pointed out all her "weeds" were mint, dill, chives and basil. She doesn't cook but wanted a nice lawn, to her they were weeds. Rosemary can grow pretty big and there's only so much you can do with it, so at a certain point, it becomes yard trash.

My mom and I used to discuss "when do 'leftovers' become 'garbage'?" and decided, "it becomes trash when you don't want it anymore. As long as you're intending to eat it, it's 'leftovers.' "